Module connector

ABSTRACT

A connector has an inner side face defining a chamber formed with an opening. A module body is inserted from the opening to be accommodated in the chamber. A first conductive member is provided on an outer periphery of the module body which is opposed to the inner side face of the connector in a case where the module body is accommodated in the chamber. A second conductive member is provided on the inner side face of the connector, such that the first conductive member is brought into contact with the first conductive member in a case where the module body is plenarily accommodated in the chamber.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.10/629,570, filed Jul. 30, 2003, the complete contents of which isincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a connector to which a module such as a memorymodule and a camera module is fitted.

FIGS. 4A to 4C show a first related-art camera module 1 to be mounted ona cellular mobile phone or the like, and this camera module 1 comprisesa module body 2, and a lens portion 3 formed on an upper side of themodule body 2. Two (left and right) rows of contact pads 4 and 5 areformed on a bottom face of the module body 2.

FIGS. 5A to 5D show a related-art connector 6 to which the camera module1 is fitted. The connector 6 is formed into a square box-like bodyhaving an upwardly-open chamber 6 a. Two (left and right) rows ofparallel grooves 7 and 8 are formed in an upper face of a bottom 6 b ofthe chamber 6 a, so that the left grooves 7 extend from a centralportion of the bottom 6 b to an inner left side wall of the chamber 6 a,and the right grooves 8 extend from the central portion of the bottom 6b to an inner right side wall of the chamber 6 a. A row of left contactpins 9 are provided in the left grooves 7, respectively, while a row ofright contact pins 10 are provided in the right grooves 8, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 5D, an inner end portion of each of the left row ofcontact pins 9 is bent upwardly to project from an associated groove 7to form a contact projection 9 a for contact with an associated contactpad 4 of the camera module 1. Each contact pin 9 extends left, andpasses through the connector 6 to project to the exterior, and an outerend portion of the contact pin 9 is bent to form a terminal 9 b forcontact with a wiring board (not shown) on which the connector 6 ismounted.

Similarly, an inner end portion of each of the right row of contact pins10 is bent upwardly to project from an associated groove 8 to form acontact projection 10 a for contact with an associated contact pad 5 ofthe camera module 1. Each contact pin 10 extends right, and passesthrough the connector 6 to project to the exterior, and an outer endportion of the contact pin 10 is bent to form a terminal 10 b forcontact with the wiring board.

When the contact projections 9 a and 10 a of the contact pins 9 and 10are pressed down respectively by the contact pads 4 and 5 of the cameramodule 1 from the upper side, the contact pins 9 and 10 are bent asindicated in phantom lines in FIG. 5D, so that the distal ends (innerends) of the contact pins 9 and 10 abut against the bottom of thegrooves 7 and 8. The contact pins 9 and 10 are accordingly held in firmpress-contact respectively with the contact pads 4 and 5 because ofreaction forces of these contact pins.

When the camera module 1 is inserted into the chamber 6 a of theconnector 6 from the upper side of this connector 6, the contact pads 4and 5 of the camera module 1 are press-contacted respectively with thecontact projections 9 a and 10 a of the connector pins 9 and 10 of theconnector 6, as shown in FIG. 6.

Signals of the camera module 1 are transmitted to the contact pins 9 and10 via the contact pads 4 and 5 and the contact projections 9 a and 10a, and further are transmitted to a circuit (not shown) of the wiringboard via the terminals 9 b and 10 b.

FIGS. 7A to 7D show a second related-art camera module 11. This cameramodule 11 comprises a module body 12, and a lens portion 13 formed on anupper side of the module body 12. A projection 14 is extendedhorizontally from one side face of the module body 12. A plurality ofparallel contacts 15 are provided on an upper face of the projection 14,while a plurality of parallel contacts 16 are provided on a lower faceof the projection 14.

FIGS. 8A to 8D show a connector 17 to which the camera module 11 isattached. This connector 17 is formed into a box-like body having anopen chamber 17 a. A central portion of a left half portion of the upperside of this connector is open, and a row of upper contact pins 18 and arow of lower contact pins 19 for gripping the contact portions 15 and 16(provided on the projection 14 of the module body 12) are provided at aninner bottom portion of the connector 17 disposed on the right side ofthe chamber 17 a. An inner end portion of each of the contact pins 18,disposed near to the central portion of the connector 17, is bent toform a contact projection 18 a for contact with the associated contactportion 15 of the module body 12, and an inner end portion of each ofthe contact pins 19, disposed near to the central portion of theconnector 17, is bent to form a contact projection 19 a for contact withthe associated contact portion 16 of the module body 12. The contactpins 18 and 19 extend so as to pass through the connector 17 to projectto the exterior, so that an outer end portion of each contact pin 18 isbent to form a terminal portion 18 b for contact with a wiring board(not shown) on which the connector 17 is mounted, and an outer endportion of each contact pin 19 is bent to form a terminal portion 19 bfor contact with the wiring board.

When the camera module 11 is inserted into the chamber 17 a of theconnector 17 through the left side opening thereof, the projection 14 ofthe camera module 11 is held between the contact pins 18 and the contactpins 19 in such a manner that the contact portions 15 and 16 are held inpress-contact with the contact projections 18 a and 19 a of the contactpins 18 and 19, respectively. Thus, the camera module 11 is attached tothe connector 17 as shown in FIG. 9.

However, when the camera module 1 is attached to the connector 6 asshown in FIG. 6, the bottom face of the camera module 1 is spaced apredetermined distance from the wiring board since the contact pins 9and 10 and the bottom wall 6 b of the connector 6 exist between thebottom face of the camera module 1 and the wiring board. With thisconstruction, the connector 6 has an increased height H1, and also anoverall height H2, obtained when attaching the camera module 1 to theconnector 6, is increased, and these are causes of the failure toachieve a thinner design of the connector 6 and a thinner design of thestructure obtained by attaching the camera module 1 to the connector 6.

When the camera module 11 is attached to the connector 17 as shown inFIG. 9, a height H3 of the connector 17 is hardly increased, and also anoverall height H4, obtained when attaching the camera module 11 to theconnector 17, is hardly increased, and therefore a thinner design can beachieved. However, the camera module 11 has the projection 14 formed onthe side face thereof, and therefore a width L1 of the camera module 11is increased, and also the connector 17 has an increased width L2 sincethe connector 17 includes the portion for receiving the body portion 12of the camera module 11 and the portion for contact with the projection14. And besides, a width of the overall structure, obtained by attachingthe camera module 11 to the connector 17, has the dimension L2.Therefore, there is encountered a problem that a space-saving design cannot be achieved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a module connectorwhich able to achieve a thinner and a space-saving design.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the invention, thereis provided a connection structure, comprising:

a connector, having an inner side face defining a chamber formed with anopening;

a module body, inserted from the opening to be accommodated in thechamber;

a first conductive member, provided on an outer periphery of the modulebody which is opposed to the inner side face of the connector in a casewhere the module body is accommodated in the chamber; and

a second conductive member, provided on the inner side face of theconnector, such that the first conductive member is brought into contactwith the second conductive member in a case where the module body isplenarily accommodated in the chamber.

With such a configuration, as compared with the related-art constructionin which the conducive member of the connector is so arranged as to facethe lower side of the module body, the height of the connector can bemade smaller, and also the height of the overall structure, obtained byattaching the module body to the connector, can be made smaller, therebyachieving the thinner design. Further, the width of the connector can bemade smaller, and the space-saving design can be achieved.

Furthermore, the force, exerted in the direction of insertion of themodule body, is not applied directly to the second conductive member,there is achieved an advantage that the contact pins will not bedamaged.

Preferably, the second conductive member is extended in a directionparallel to an inserting direction of the module body.

Preferably, the module body is a memory module or a camera module.

Preferably, an end of the chamber opposite to the opening is made open.

With such a configuration, a bottom wall of the chamber as provided inthe related-art construction is not provided at the end of the chamber,so that the thickness of the connector can be further reduced.

Preferably, at least a pair of the second conductive member is arrangedon the inner side face of the connector so as to oppose to each other.

Here, it is preferable that the second conductive member has elasticity.

With such a configuration, since the second conductive members arepressed against the module body in a gripping manner, the stable contactcan be obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will becomemore apparent by describing in detail preferred exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a top plan view of a camera module according to oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1B is a side view of the camera module;

FIG. 1C is a partly sectional front view of the camera module;

FIG. 1D is a bottom plan view of the camera module;

FIG. 2A is a top plan view of a connector according to one embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 2B is a side view of the connector;

FIG. 2C is a front view of the connector;

FIG. 2D is a sectional front view of the connector;

FIG. 3 is a partly sectional front view showing a state that the cameramodule is fitted with the connector;

FIG. 4A is a top plan view of a first related-art camera module;

FIG. 4B is a side view of the first related-art camera module;

FIG. 4C is a bottom plan view of the first related-art camera module;

FIG. 5A is a top plan view of a first related-art connector;

FIG. 5B is a front view of the first related-art connector;

FIG. 5C is a side view of the first related-art connector;

FIG. 5D is a sectional front view of the first related-art connector;

FIG. 6 is a partly sectional front view showing a state that the firstrelated-art camera module is fitted with the related-art connector;

FIG. 7A is a top plan view of a second related-art camera module;

FIG. 7B is a front view of the second related-art connector;

FIG. 7C is a side view of the second related-art camera module;

FIG. 7D is a bottom plan view of the second related-art camera module;

FIG. 8A is a top plan view of a second related-art connector;

FIG. 8B is a front view of the second related-art connector;

FIG. 8C is a side view of the second related-art connector;

FIG. 8D is a sectional front view of the second related-art connector;and

FIG. 9 is a partly sectional front view showing a state that the secondrelated-art camera module is fitted with the related-art connector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1A to 1D show a camera module 21 mounted on a cellular mobilephone or the like, and this camera module 21 comprises a module body 22,and a lens portion 23 formed on an upper side of the module body 22. Aplurality of parallel contact pads 24 is formed at a lower half portionof each of four side faces of the module body 22, and extend vertically.

FIGS. 2A to 2D show a connector 25 to which the camera module 21 isfitted. This connector 25 is formed into a square box-like body havingan upwardly-opened chamber 25 a. Four side portions of a bottom 25 b ofthe chamber 25 a are suitably notched to form openings 25 c, and aplurality of parallel contact pins 26 are provided on an inner side wallof the chamber 25 a, and extend vertically.

Although the connector 25 has the bottom 25 b, this bottom 25 b may beremoved so as to provide the chamber 25 a having an open top and an openbottom. In this case, the connector 25 is reduced in thickness by anamount corresponding to the thickness of this removed bottom wall 25 b.

Each of the contact pins 26 is bent into a generally inverted V-shape,and is fixedly secured to the inner side face of the chamber 25 a. Oneend portion of the contact pin 26 is formed into a terminal 26 a whichis exposed to the lower side of the connector 25 through the associatedopening 25 c, and is bent outwardly horizontally so as to beelectrically connected with a circuit (not shown) formed on a wiringboard (not shown) on which the connector 25 is mounted. The other endportion of the contact pin 26 is bent to project inwardly to form acontact projection 26 b for contact with the associated contact pad 24of the module body 22.

When the camera module 21 is inserted into the chamber 25 a from theupper side of this connector 25, the contact pads 24 are brought intopress-contact with the contact projections 26 b of the contact pins 26.The attachment of the camera module 21 to the connector 25 is thuscompleted as shown in FIG. 3.

Signals of the camera module 21 are transmitted from the contact pads 24to the contact pins 26 via the contact projections 26 b, and further aretransmitted to the circuit of the wiring board via the terminals 26 a.

As described above, since the contact pins 26 are provided on the innerside face of the connector 25, as compared with the first related-artconnector shown in FIG. 6, a height H5 of the connector 25 can be madesmaller, and also a height H6 of the overall structure, obtained byattaching the camera module 21 to the connector 25, can be made smaller,thereby achieving a thinner design. Further, a width L3 of the connectorcan be made smaller as compared with the second related-art connectorshown in FIG. 9, thereby achieving a space-saving design.

Since the contact pins 26 of the connector 25 are pressed against thecontact pads 24 of the camera module 21, respectively, in a grippingmanner, the stable contact can be obtained. Furthermore, since a force,exerted in the direction of insertion of the camera module 21, is notapplied directly to the contact pins 26, there is achieved an advantagethat the contact pins 26 will not be damaged.

In the present invention, various modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirits of the invention, and such modifications fallwithin the scope of the invention.

Although the connector 25 is so designed as to attach the camera module21 thereto, the connector of the invention is not limited to the typefor attaching the camera module thereto, but the invention can beapplied to connectors for attaching various modules (such for example asa memory module) or electric parts thereto.

1. A connection structure, comprising: a connector, having an inner sideface defining a chamber formed with an opening, in which a module bodyis inserted in a first direction; the module body, inserted from theopening to be accommodated in the chamber; a first conductive member onthe module body; and a second conductive member, comprising a pluralityof parallel contact pins provided on the inner side face of theconnector, such that the first conductive member is brought into contactwith the second conductive member in a case where the module body isplenarily accommodated in the chamber, and wherein the second conductivemember is extended from the inner side face to an outer side face,wherein each of the parallel contact pins is bent from a seconddirection opposed to the first direction to the first direction at afirst point, and extended from the first point and bent so as to extendinto the chamber at a second point, and extended from the second pointto an edge portion to be brought into contact with the first conductivemember.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The connection structure as set forth in claim1, wherein the module body is a memory module.
 4. The connectionstructure as set forth in claim 1, wherein the module body is a cameramodule.
 5. The connection structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein anend of the chamber opposite to the opening is made open.
 6. Theconnection structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least a pair ofthe second conductive member is arranged on the inner side face of theconnector so as to oppose to each other.
 7. The connection structure asset forth in claim 6, wherein the second conductive member haselasticity.
 8. The connection structure as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid opening is square in shape.
 9. The connection structure as setforth in claim 1 wherein each of the parallel contact pins comprises: afirst end portion which serves as a terminal and is exposed to a lowerside of the connector through an associated opening and is bentoutwardly horizontally so as to be electrically connected with a circuitformed on a wiring board on which the connector is mounted; and a secondend portion which is bent to project inwardly to form a contact with anassociated contact pad on the module body.
 10. The connection structureof claim 1 wherein said plurality of contact pins are fully locatedwithin said connector.
 11. The connection structure of claim 1 whereinsaid connector has a second opening positioned below said opening inwhich said module body is inserted.